Couple sentenced for ‘punishment rape’ of a girl, they wrongly accused of stealing drugs money

According to the sentence, Elizabeth Seagrove, a drug dealer, 40, was sentenced to 10 years and six months for rape, plus a two-year jail sentence for drug offences, to run concurrently, and her boyfriend Mathew Costello, 31, was jailed for nine years and four months for rape.

According to the case materials, Seagrove discovered the cash missing from the house in Iver in October last year and blamed the victim for the theft. The couple drove their terrified victim around for more than an hour in the middle of the night in her dressing gown, to find a secluded place where her cries would not be heard. Seagrove was holding girl's hair while Costello was violating the 18-year-old. After the rape, the woman gave the girl a drug to reduce the pain and 'harden her up' in life.

It was only later, on returning home, that the vile duo realised it was someone else who had taken the missing £100 pounds from them.

Seagrove and Costello had denied carrying out the attack, but were convicted by a jury after a trial anyway, thanks to the evidence found by the police officers and victim's stepfather, who was so determined to see justice that he drove around trying to find the spot where the victim was raped to help police in their investigation.